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transportation:roads [2024/11/20 23:03] – [Articles] timbtransportation:roads [2026/04/19 00:00] (current) – [Science] timb
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 Created Saturday 15 August 2020 Created Saturday 15 August 2020
  
-See also: [[transportation:Transportation]]+See also: [[:transportation:transportation|Transportation]]
  
 ====== Articles ====== ====== Articles ======
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 The partnership will see the company test out whether it's viable to build a 40-mile corridor that will connect downtown Detroit to Ann Arbor, with arteries to local destinations like the University of Michigan, the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Michigan Central Station. The partnership will see the company test out whether it's viable to build a 40-mile corridor that will connect downtown Detroit to Ann Arbor, with arteries to local destinations like the University of Michigan, the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Michigan Central Station.
  
-https://www.engadget.com/cavnue-michigan-corridor-221520625.html+[[https://www.engadget.com/cavnue-michigan-corridor-221520625.html|https://www.engadget.com/cavnue-michigan-corridor-221520625.html]]
  
 == A Quarter of U.S. Roads Could Be Regularly Flooded in 30 Years == == A Quarter of U.S. Roads Could Be Regularly Flooded in 30 Years ==
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 Those are just a few of the dire findings within a recently released, multiyear analysis conducted last month by nonprofit group First Street Foundation. The report found there are already around 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) of U.S. roads at risk today, and another 200,000 miles (320,000 kilometers) will be put in the danger zone in the coming decades. Those are just a few of the dire findings within a recently released, multiyear analysis conducted last month by nonprofit group First Street Foundation. The report found there are already around 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) of U.S. roads at risk today, and another 200,000 miles (320,000 kilometers) will be put in the danger zone in the coming decades.
  
-https://gizmodo.com/a-quarter-of-u-s-roads-could-be-regularly-flooded-in-3-1848090519+[[https://gizmodo.com/a-quarter-of-u-s-roads-could-be-regularly-flooded-in-3-1848090519|https://gizmodo.com/a-quarter-of-u-s-roads-could-be-regularly-flooded-in-3-1848090519]]
  
 == How Good Are American Roads? == == How Good Are American Roads? ==
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 One facet of infrastructure that doesn’t get all that much attention is roads, despite the fact that they’re crucial transportation infrastructure, and probably the infrastructure that Americans interact with most directly and consistently. The US has the largest road network in the world, about 4.3 million miles of road, and Americans drive much more than residents in most other countries. Good-quality roads are important for a functioning economy, and rough roads inflict costs in the form of reduced vehicle speeds. One facet of infrastructure that doesn’t get all that much attention is roads, despite the fact that they’re crucial transportation infrastructure, and probably the infrastructure that Americans interact with most directly and consistently. The US has the largest road network in the world, about 4.3 million miles of road, and Americans drive much more than residents in most other countries. Good-quality roads are important for a functioning economy, and rough roads inflict costs in the form of reduced vehicle speeds.
  
-https://www.construction-physics.com/p/how-good-are-american-roads+[[https://www.construction-physics.com/p/how-good-are-american-roads|https://www.construction-physics.com/p/how-good-are-american-roads]]
  
 +===== Asphalt =====
  
 +== The road to hell is paved with asphalt ==
  
 +January 15th, 2024 - Devon Zuegel
  
 +Most roads are paved with asphalt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with asphalt. Bricks, cobblestones, and pavers are often much better options, because:
  
 +  - 1. Asphalt degrades fast, so once you account for maintenance, it's more expensive it first appearsAsphalt degrades fast, so once you account for maintenance, it's more expensive it first appears Asphalt ages and falls apart quickly. It needs to be replaced after 10-15 years and starts looking pretty crummy well before then. It forms potholes and cracks quickly, especially in extreme climates. It's cheaper to install upfront, but over time, it is much more expensive.Asphalt ages and falls apart quickly. It needs to be replaced after 10-15 years and starts looking pretty crummy well before then. It forms potholes and cracks quickly, especially in extreme climates. It's cheaper to install upfront, but over time, it is much more expensive.
  
 +Meanwhile, brick and cobblestone roads can last 150 years or more – in fact the cobblestones still in use in Rome's Appian Way are over 2,000 years old! These materials don't need much maintenance, and if a single brick does crack, that individual piece can be replaced easily. Meanwhile, brick and cobblestone roads can last 150 years or more – in fact the cobblestones still in use in Rome's Appian Way are over 2,000 years old! These materials don't need much maintenance, and if a single brick does crack, that individual piece can be replaced easily.
  
 +[[https://devonzuegel.com/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-asphalt|https://devonzuegel.com/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-asphalt]]
  
-===== Asphalt =====+== Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface ==
  
-== The road to hell is paved with asphalt ==+Researcher at Swansea University says tiny plant spores mixed into bitumen can extend surface lifespan by 30%
  
-January 15th, 2024 - Devon Zuegel+Ian Sample, Science editor - Mon 3 Feb 2025 01.00 EST
  
-Most roads are paved with asphalt. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems with asphalt. Bricks, cobblestones, and pavers are often much better options, because:+For all motorists, but perhaps the Ferrari-collecting rocker Rod Stewart in particular, it will be music to the ears: researchers have developed a road surface that heals when it cracks, preventing potholes without a need for human intervention. 
 + 
 +The international team devised a self-healing bitumen that mends cracks as they form by fusing the asphalt back together. In laboratory tests, pieces of the material repaired small fractures within an hour of them first appearing. 
 + 
 +“When you close the cracks you prevent potholes forming in the future and extend the lifespan of the road,” said Dr Jose Norambuena-Contreras, a researcher on the project at Swansea University. “We can extend the surface lifespan by 30%.” 
 + 
 +According to the AA, a record £579m was spent in the UK last year repairing vehicles damaged by potholes, up from £474m in 2023. After pledging £1.6bn to repair roads and fix more than 7m potholes in England this year, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said the hazards had “plagued motorists for far too long”. 
 + 
 +Potholes typically start from small surface cracks that form under the weight of traffic. These allow water to seep into the road surface, where it causes more damage through cycles of freezing and thawing. Bitumen, the sticky black substance used in asphalt, becomes susceptible to cracking when it hardens through oxidation. 
 + 
 +To make the self-healing bitumen, the researchers mixed in tiny porous plant spores soaked in recycled oils. When the road surface is compressed by passing traffic, it squeezes the spores, which release their oil into any nearby cracks. The oils soften the bitumen enough for it to flow and seal the cracks. 
 + 
 +[[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/03/farewell-potholes-uk-team-invents-self-healing-road-surface|https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/03/farewell-potholes-uk-team-invents-self-healing-road-surface]] 
 + 
 +===== Science ===== 
 + 
 +== The Simple Geometry Behind Any Road == 
 + 
 +April 13, 2026 - "SANDBOX SPIRIT" 
 + 
 +In the last blog post, I explained what sits at the backbone of procedurally generated roads: the data structure, aka the minimum information you need to describe any piece of road infrastructure. The answer to that fundamental question was a set of abstract cross-sections of the road, each storing a snapshot of how the road looks at that specific point (or, should I say, line). I called them simply: profiles. 
 + 
 +A good analogy I didn’t have the inspiration to make at the moment was to compare them with Bezier splines. To store a Bezier spline, you don’t need to save the entire curve explicitly, but just anchor points and handle positions. With a bit of math and a few formulas, you can reconstruct the actual path at any time by interpolating between the control points. 
 + 
 +The profile-based representation works the same in my system. The profiles are the control information, and the actual geometry defining the road path is the interpolated result of those profiles.
  
-1. Asphalt degrades fast, so once you account for maintenance, it's more expensive it first appears +In this blog post, I’ll go over how I am computing the purple part. How to interpolate between these green profiles to generate beautifully smooth, parallel paths?
-Asphalt ages and falls apart quickly. It needs to be replaced after 10-15 years and starts looking pretty crummy well before then. It forms potholes and cracks quickly, especially in extreme climates. It's cheaper to install upfront, but over time, it is much more expensive. +
-  +
-Meanwhile, brick and cobblestone roads can last 150 years or more – in fact the cobblestones still in use in Rome's Appian Way are over 2,000 years old! These materials don't need much maintenance, and if a single brick does crack, that individual piece can be replaced easily. +
  
-https://devonzuegel.com/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-asphalt+https://sandboxspirit.com/blog/simple-geometry-of-roads/
  
  
  
  
transportation/roads.1732143803.txt.gz · Last modified: by timb